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Norman Gladney, 59, and Cheryl Lewis, 55, of the Bronx were headed straight to a trial when they accepted a deal from Bergen prosecutors and admitted the attempted flim-flam in a Hackensack courtroom yesterday.
A conviction at a trial could have led to four-year prison sentences.
Norman Gladney, Cheryl Lewis (STORY / PHOTOS: Mary K. Miraglia, CLIFFVIEW PILOT Courthouse Reporter)
Instead, they get to walk — although Gladney could still be sentenced to 364 days in the Bergen County Jail on March 28, Superior Court Edward A. Jerejian said.
They will probably receive five years of probation each, the judge said. Meanwhile, both remain free on $25,000 bail each.
The couple — who police say have a lengthy flim-flamming history — pleaded guilty to third-degree “attempted luring” for targeting the elderly woman, who was out for a walk then they approached her last April 9, saying they had money that they couldn’t bring to the bank themselves and asking her for help.
Their plan, they said, was to swap money she would withdraw from her own savings and swap it for a bag filled mostly with paper.
The woman didn’t fall for the scheme and walked away, then headed straight to the Leonia police station.
Leonia police snatched the pair a short time later at the PNC Bank branch on the corner of Broad Avenue and Elm Place — talking to another elderly woman.
STORY / PHOTOS: Mary K. Miraglia, CLIFFVIEW PILOT Courthouse Reporter
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